Aslı Elif Tanuğur Samancı

Aslı Elif Tanuğur Samancı is one of the founders of BEE’O Propolis, the first and only local propolis producer in Turkey. She is a female entrepreneur with 33 national and international awards. After graduating from Istanbul Technical University Department of Food Engineering in 1996, she completed her master studies in the same department. She worked as R&D and Quality Director in the bee products industry for 20 years. From the beginning of her professional career, she realized various national and international projects in the field of bee products. Her projects were awarded by TÜBİTAK-TEYDEB, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Eurowards Turkey.

After being recommended by the doctor due to her son’s antibiotic allergy, she saw that propolis and royal jelly were used all around the world to enhance the immune system and protect against frequent infections. When she found out that propolis was not produced in Turkey and instead imported from China, she decided to produce one for her son. In order to produce Turkey’s first propolis with Turkey’s first “Contracted Beekeeping Model” and make it suitable for human consumption, she founded her company at the Istanbul Technical University ARI Teknokent in 2013 with the support of KOSGEB and together with her husband MSc Agricultural Engineer Taylan Samancı and her teacher Prof. Dr. Dilek Boyacıoğlu.